Mrs. P

Just to clarify, the original post requests places that would be amenable to having your pet with you. I specified that I didn't want a list of places with outdoor seating because that would be another topic. Outdoor seating PLUS nice to pets is cool and there have been several good suggestions. One I ran across: Savoy bakery and cafe in Takoma Park. Food was just OK, though the croissant was excellent, and the coffee was nothing to write home about. But the atmosphere was nice and the people were welcoming. Several dogs were there at once (I didn't have mine with me) and it seemed that the owners kept them in check, at least while I was there.

Chuckle Adega is fabulous. People are nice, food is really quite good, especially the happy hour specials, and it is one of only a handlful of non-chain places of note in Silver Spring. Come on folks, $2 wine, $5 (huge) apps - How could you miss this happy hour! I'm feeling like a trip over there for good homey food and wine after listening to this Rusmfeld testimony...yeesh I could use a drink!

That's what I'm talkin' about! BDC is a great idea! BTW - just received Mother's Day roses at my office, from my dog. For real! I wonder if he's also looking for brunch reservations on Sunday? I'll let ya know where we go...probably the Red Dog Cafe since it is near my house. Re: the gifties in the street, I hear ya DonRocks. What is funny in France is that while dogs are ubiquitous, pooper scoopers are not. In fact, I found it difficult to find any dog novelty items --Good business idea?

With the sun out for extra hours, my little pug has let me know that he expects to accompany me more frequently. I'd like to know about people's experiences with taking their four-legged friends with them to eat/drink in the DC area. I don't just mean places that have outdoor seating. I'm talking about places that I would want to go to anyway for good food & drinks AND that accomodate pooches in a nice way - a water bowl, no mean looks, maybe even treats. Has anybody had luck with this?

Great idea! I would love to join!

Thanks for the tip - where is the Mayorga roasting plant in Rockville? I really love their blend of Kenyan AA with Jamaican Blue Mountain, but they are often out of it at the Silver Spring location. Maybe I would have better luck at the roasting plant!

Thanks for the update Malawry. I haven't been back since opening week but it sounds like they are coming together! It seems to be pretty busy whenever I pass by, so I'll be making a stop there soon. Do you happen to know if they are they still aiming to have the liquor license by the end of May? That mushroom-gorgonzola pizza sounds really good!

No, we didn't get to dessert. Do you think it is worth a visit on its own for dessert?

Does anybody know of a place in Arlington/Ballston or Silver Spring where bubble tea might be sold?

I think the clyde's closed due to the renovation they are doing of that whole block with Giant, marvelous market, etc. Last time I passed by it looked like the whole place was shut down and they were going to put in a medical office building or something, end date 2006. Does anybody know what they are doing with that space?

Here here to the previous posts. The cheese selection at Whole Foods has left me pining for better cheese. The Dean and Deluca reblochon has been good in past tastings. The pre-packaged cheese dilemna has another dimension. Sometimes you don't want to buy the size that they are trying to sell you, but you do it anyways because you want the cheese! Often I want a slice of cheese half the size that I am forced to purchase. Has anybody else had this problem. For the store it probably provides some reliability in stock turnover, but it can be really frustrating as a customer to but 2+ times as much as you want (spending 2+ times as much as well!!!).

Went a few weeks ago. Sangria was ok but overly iced, so it got watery very quickly. The tapas were mediocre at best, almost all were accompanied by a weak aioli that seemed like Hellman's with a bit of mushed garlic mixed in. The lack of originality in plating dishes with a side sauce, plus the so-so quality of the food, has discouraged us from going back for food. Might be a good place to go for a drink at the bar if you are in the area.

Quantity of toppings, esp. sauce, is the culprit. (At least I have identified it as such in my home-made 'za.) This would seem to leave the chef in a bind -- prepare a nice, crisp pie and be accused of skimping on the toppings, or pile on the toppings and create the soggy center. Recently moved up from Miami Beach where there is a FANTASTIC pizza spot called Piola's. Amazing. Did I mention it is fabulous? Anyway, crusts were never soggy in the center. Reason? They baked the thin crust first in the brick oven, then lightly topped with cheese/sauce, baked again briefly, then added a fairly spare amount of the final toppings. Worked great every time I went and I've been looking for something as good here. 2 Amy's and Sette haven't been quite the same quality the times I've been.

Not exactly central DC, but the newish Mayorga coffee house 4-5 blocks from Silver Spring metro meets all the criteria. There's also lots of parking - they might even have a parking lot if I remeber correctly.

Adega in Silver Spring has a happy hour from 4-8 weekdays. They have apps for $5 that are really generous. The typical items are fabulous mini-burgers, a bruschetta platter, mini flatbreads - ALL YUM Wines by the glass and beer are $2 a pop, with a nice though limited selection. Outdoor seating is available, but no alcohol allowed outside. I love this place! Atmosphere is low-key, the apps and burgers are great, and the wine is cheap. Perfect for an i-don't-want-to-cook night. Be prepared, however, for wine served in plastic glasses.

As often as we want I'm sorry you can't join us this time, but we will start the peer pressure when our next gathering is planned. We really should do a get together where we can show off our culinary skills, or lack there of. Maybe a picnic at Wolf Trap? You are such a scene-stealing b****! Mrs. B and I were going to propose a picnic in Rock Creek Park at the dinner next week, for late June or July, with the idea that people could show off their cooking, bring their kids, and not have to spend a boatload of money. Wolf Trap would be great, and I'd be interested in exploring it, but there are significant expense and logistical (not to mention musical taste) concerns. Once the "shakespear in the park" season starts, a Carter Baron ampitheater outing might be a fairly inexpensive and central option for folks. Just a thought.

Yes! What is up with the lack of fennel at the Silver Spring Whole Foods?! I can rarely find it there. My staple stores these days are the Silver Spring Safeway, farmers markets when I can make it, and the Korean market up on Georgia whose name always escapes me for veggies and fish. Also, I work in Ballston and often buy meats at the Harris Teeter at much better quality and prices than Giant, which offered fatty flank steak for $8/lb recently! Personally I love going to multiple places when I have the time. Turtleboy is right about Publix in FL - great stores, especially the new ones.

A couple of quick ideas from past experience (with good food & service): Restaurant Nora (best) Mayflower Hotel Restaurant Ritz Carlton on Mass Ave (was available on short notice) Gabriel's on P Street could section off an area of the restaurant

Went last Wed to Sette - it was very busy at 10 PM!! We didn't have the time to load up on apps, so we went straight for the pizza. The pizzas selected were : La Reina La Reina with Prociutto Quattro Stagioni As reported before, the pizzas could have used more time in the oven, but the flavors were good though not amazing. Next time I will ask for well-done, as others have suggested. The quattro stagione came out with all four ingredients mixed together, which was fine but unexpected (usually, in my experience, each flavor is given its own section of the pizza). We were underwhelmed by the overall quality of the pizzas for the price (~50 with 2 cokes and a beer). Service was a bit slow but amiable. The pizzas came out uncut, and we requested that they be cut (eyes did roll a bit). I would take a 2 Amy's Norcia to go over what we tried at Sette. But I do hope to return to try other pizzas and the appetizers that have been hailed in this thread.

This thread is reminding me of previous discussions re: Colorado Kitchen. It seems that there are many customers who feel that service goes hand-in-hand with superior eats, service being defined as attention to customers, while there are many chefs who view that type of service to be conforming to lower standards. From the Ann email DonRocks posted above, it sounds as though Amernick does not intend to have bad service, but clearly there is a down-the-nose cast at the place. There are ways to show commitment to a standard without being exclusionary and setting rules that can only make others wince! I say this while admitting that I have not tried it for the same reason as Jenny - Amernick's is always closed when I go by!!!

Went this Saturday (10 pm) to Ceiba - excellent meal for all. It was our first visit, and as we are always looking for upscale latin american cusine variations we'll be going back soon! We started with the ceviche sampler, which included a fabulous peruvian-style ceviche with a creamy super-spicy rocotto sauce and roasted peruvian choclo. Best I've had in quite a while. The queso fundido was spectacular as well, and quite spicy, though it came with what appeared to be packaged corn tortillas. For dinner the plates were: Seared scallops with an incredible sauce and huitlacoche gnocci - the peak platter of the night, with the unusual complementary flavors blending well together. Grilled salmon with mariscos and green mole - quite nice mole flavor with toasted pumpkin seeds for garnish. The grilled salmon itself was fairly standard but the sauce compelented it well. Seared tuna on fufu - the fufu was amazing, apparently a mash of plantains, sweet potato, and other items I can't remember. Garnished with a fried plantain, this plate was beautiful and delicious. Churrasco with chimichurri and fried onions - I didn't try this one, but there was no steak left at the end of the meal! The fried onions were huge and didn't get eaten. Dessert: Churros (think of a cross between a donut and a funnel cake) and hot chocolate Wine: Chilean Cusino Macul Finis Terrae - excellent!! Total Price with coffee for all: $200

It seemed pretty good for kids - I think the guy finished up around 11 or 11:30, so you might want to check on the time that he is there. It was cute - kids clapping and singing along, 100% enthralled.

By the way - Mayorga Coffee has a Sunday Brunch - basics for $11 I think, including coffee. Good pancakes, omlettes, and smoked salmon, but the bread selection is just pre-made mini muffins and bagels. They had a folksy singer there to play kid songs and the parents were loving it. It was not too full so you could get to the brunch spread pretty easily. Plus, we picked up the Kenya AA/Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee blend to take home....worth a try!

Red Dog Cafe opened Monday! As it is around the corner, we ventured over last night to try the pizza from the wood-fired oven (what could be better on a cold misty night?!). After waiting a few minutes for a table (the 20ish tables were full, quite impressive for a first week) we were seated. Being the second day in business there are some kinks to work out, mainly that they were not serving any dishes containing bread because they ran out of dough...Problem with this is that 2/3 of the menu has bread in some form (pizza, sandwiches, flatbreads, etc)! Limited choices nonetheless, we stayed to order a pulled-duck salad, mac & cheese, mussles, coffee and a lemonade that turned out to be lemon juice with apple juice, no sugar added (yikes). We probably should have boogied on over to the Parkway Deli to give the Red Dog a bit more time to come together, but we gave it a shot. Our order was lost, then found. The dishes came quite late and were...ok. Duck salad had a good flavor but a rushed presentation. The Mac & cheese was quite plain, and the mussles seemed to be in need of white wine (perhaps waiting on the liquor license that is due to arrive in May). Total bill came to $37.00 for four people ordering three dishes. The kitchen is visible to diners, and certainly gave the impression that organization is needed. Despite what seemed like 6 waiters for the 20 tables, prepared plates sat waiting for their waiters to notice and and orders were forgotten. Customers sat without food or drink while staff attended to what seemed like friends who were there to support the new venture. The menu is promising and I am ready to go back and try the pizza. This is a spot with great potential and is a nice option to have in the neighborhood. With a bit of practice I am hoping that they will get their service together. Egulleters may want to wait a month or so, maybe planning the outing for May when the liquor license comes through and we can enjoy a glass of wine while we wait. Has anybody else ventured over?

Great idea - I'll keep my eye out for when the place opens and report back.